"Lewis's inclusion is a result of the platform this club has given him – that's not all been under me and I know he's thankful to a lot before me," said Hughton, quoted on Albion's Twitter account.

"But he's earned it with England – he did himself credit last season and he's put in a lot of hard work."

Dunk's first international involvement came as a result of an injury suffered by Burnley centre-back James Tarkowski.

He watched on from the sidelines as his country drew 0-0 in a behind-closed-doors game in Croatia, before they pulled off a surprise 3-2 win against their other Nations League opponents Spain.

With the USA game on November 15 only a friendly, the Albion academy graduate will possibly be more hopeful of some game time during this international break.

Before then his club face a trip to lowly Cardiff after their three-match winning run in the Premier League was ended by last weekend's defeat at Everton.

Hughton feels Saturday's clash with Neil Warnock's Bluebirds starts a run of games which could go a long way to defining their season.

"We've got a crucial period of games coming up – but the Premier League is such a tough league that it always applies," he said.

"We know we're more likely to pick points up off sides outside of the top six – but we have to capitalise on that ourselves.

"They (Cardiff) will have good backing this weekend and it will be another tough game."

Iran winger Alireza Jahanbakhsh is a major doubt for the visit to south Wales due to a minor hamstring strain suffered at Goodison Park.

Midfielders Pascal Gross and Davy Propper remain sidelined with their respective ankle problems, while back-up goalkeeper David Button is expected to miss out due to a knee issue.

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